Ivan Tasovac, 55, the director of Belgrade Philharmonic, died on Wednesday night after suddenly felt sick.

He led the Belgrade Philharmonic from 2001 to 2013, and again from January 2017, when reappointed by Serbia’s Government.

During his first mandate, the Philharmonic became „one of the leading European orchestras“ (Independent), „cult Serbian orchestra“ (Financial Times), „the most successful cultural institution in Serbia“ (Jutarnji list, Zagreb) and „the strongest PR weapon in Serbia“ (Kvällsposten, Malmö).

Tasovac served as Serbia’s Minister of Culture and Information from September 2013 to August 2016.